


Life In The Playground

by thisiswherethefishlives



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-24 07:05:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2572526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisiswherethefishlives/pseuds/thisiswherethefishlives
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life in The Playground wasn’t anything like what he had expected. The fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the rise of Hydra had turned his life upside down, and even the call-to-arms from Coulson had come off as more of a funeral march than anything else. Mack had come with his head down, with the understanding that it would be a miracle if he survived this - if any of them survived this at all.</p>
<p>He had come prepared to die, but then he had met Leo Fitz and all plans to go out in a blaze of glory fell to the wayside.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life In The Playground

Life in The Playground wasn’t anything like what he had expected. The fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the rise of Hydra had turned his life upside down, and even the call-to-arms from Coulson had come off as more of a funeral march than anything else. Mack had come with his head down, with the understanding that it would be a miracle if he survived this - if any of them survived this at all.

He had come prepared to die, but then he had met Leo Fitz and all plans to go out in a blaze of glory fell to the wayside. How could he even consider death as an option when this brilliant, gorgeous, wounded man woke up every day just to struggle to get to the next?

While Mack certainly didn’t consider the engineer to be broken, he knew that was exactly what the other man thought of himself, so he turned his back on his previous plan to keep his head down and instead made it his mission to help Leo see that he didn’t need help.

He began with just talking - brainstorming new tech, reviewing old blueprints, one-sided small talk. The talking grew from stilted, uncomfortable necessity into something warmer. Teasing and jokes, being on the same page. Talking with Leo quickly became the best part of his day, and he knew at that point. He knew that he wanted more than a casual friendship.

The ritual of drinking a few beers and shooting the shit is something Mack still hasn’t thanked Hunter for. At first it was the three of them, every Friday night, but with the return of Simmons and the arrival of Bobbi they all scattered. It was disappointing, but understandable - at least that’s what he told himself as he wiped his hands off before making his way from the garage back to his room. He wasn’t expecting Leo to be standing awkwardly outside his door with a six-pack of beer and a pained smile. They didn’t say anything that night, or the following night, or the one after that, but it became their thing. It was a time to sit together and decompress - some nights with beer, others with tea. It became so much more to Mack than an opportunity to shoot the shit with the guys. Those nights with Leo settled warm into his heart, and he couldn’t help but dread a time when the other man would no longer seek out his company.

Movie nights came out of the blue, it’s certainly nothing that Mack had ever done with friends - it was more of a date activity as far as he was concerned, but he couldn’t say no when the other man approached him with an armful of snacks, a huge smile, and a box set of Mel Brooks films. They started with Blazing Saddles and made quick work of the rest of the collection. Over the following months they kept it up, watching both classics (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) and more current films (Pacific Rim) alike. Huddled together on Mack’s bed, side by side with their backs against the wall, they often woke up together blinking the sleep out of their eyes against the bright blue sleep screen of the television. If Mack felt a twinge every time Leo stretched and made his way back to his own room it certainly wasn’t anything worth mentioning.

It took an intervention - an intervention of two, but an intervention nonetheless. Leo had dragged him into his room and pushed him down onto the bed. Pacing the length of the room, mumbling and occasionally tugging at his hair, the younger man was obviously upset but he wasn’t giving Mack anything to work off of.

"Hey now, Turbo, whatever’s going on is going to be fine. Take a breath, man. Do you want to talk in the morning? Get a fresh perspective? You’re not giving me anything right now."

Shaking his head forcefully, Leo stopped pacing to come stand in front of Mack.

"I feel like we need to - we have to… um, what I want is, gah!" Throwing his hands in the air, the other man sighed dramatically before continuing. "We’ve been dating for months, at least that’s what I wanted this to be - what I want, and you don’t seem to notice. I just… I don’t know and we have -"

Cut off by Mack’s lips, the engineer was unable to trip further along with his monologue. It was a soft, sweet brush of lips until the smaller man surged against him pressing for more. Tongues sliding against each other and tentative hands roaming over clothes, it would have been perfect but Mack had to say his piece.

"I’m about half-way to being in love with you already, so if you want to date I’m with you. If it’s too much, I get it, but if we’re going to do this I’m not going to start by holding back."

"Yeah, that’s- that’s good. Me too, I mean. We should… we should keep with the kissing though."

Smirking against Leo’s lips, Mack dragged him down into bed with him, kissing languidly into the warmth of his mouth. Life in The Playground wasn’t anything like what he had expected - it was so much more.


End file.
